Dress up in your finest prom fashion. Bring a copy of your favorite book as your date to donate to the Y2Y Homeless Shelter in Harvard Square. (It’s the only prom where you’re supposed to dump your date at the door!)

There will be free snacks and soft drinks, a cash bar, music, dancing, “after-prom” style games and activities, and, of course, “chaperones.” You’ll also be able to get a formal prom picture with your “date” and a bookish corsage.

There will be three types of tickets for this event; Mass Market, Paperback, and Hardcover.

Since this is a prom we will have a “King” and “Queen” but because this is a Reader Prom (and we’re not that big on monarchy as a system of government or strict genders as a system of interpersonal relationships) we’ll have an “Author” and “Illustrator.” Our Reader Prom Author and Illustrator will be randomly selected from all of the attendees and will each receive a $50 gift card. (A celebratory Author and Illustrator dance is not expected but we certainly won’t stop you!)

Our chaperones for the prom will be:

Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere, grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Shaker Heights, Ohio. She attended Harvard University and earned an MFA from the University of Michigan. Her debut novel, Everything I Never Told You, won the Massachusetts Book Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and the ALA's Alex Award. She is a 2016 NEA fellow, and she lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Krysten Hill is an educator, writer, and performer who has showcased her poetry on stage at The Massachusetts Poetry Festival, Blacksmith House, Cantab Lounge, Merrimack College, U35 Reading Series, and many others. She received her MFA in poetry from UMass Boston where she currently teaches. Her work can be found or is forthcoming in apt, Word Riot, The Baltimore Review, B O D Y, Muzzle, PANK, Winter Tangerine Review, Take Magazine and elsewhere. She is the recipient of the 2016 St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist Award. Her chapbook, How Her Spirit Got Out, received the 2017 Jean Pedrick Chapbook Prize.

The Porter Square Books Foundation is a 401(c)(3) non-profit foundation, with the mission of fostering a love of reading and of books, particularly among children and families in our local communities whose access to them may have been limited by economic or cultural factors. We have furthered this mission by arranging author appearances in schools in Cambridge and Somerville and using the foundation's funds to guarantee that every child who attended these events, regardless of ability to pay, was able to leave with a book.

Y2Y Harvard Square, a student-run overnight shelter, employs a youth-to-youth model to provide a safe and affirming environment for young adults experiencing homelessness. Y2Y guests have opportunities to collaborate with service providers, other youth experiencing homelessness, and student volunteers to create sustainable pathways out of homelessness and develop skills for long-term success. Y2Y provides opportunities for both guests and volunteers to become the next generation’s leading advocates for youth-driven solutions to homelessness.

Thank you to our sponsors Be Fresh in Davis Square, A&B Music DJ/Karaoke Services, Cambridge Savings Bank, and The Cambridge Trust.

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Signed Copies Available

Can't make it to an event? We're always happy to set a signed copy aside for you or put one in the mail.

Just add the book to your cart, and in the comments section, let us know that you want a signed copy, and tell us if you'd like the author to personalize the inscription. (If you want it personalized, be sure to place your order at least 24 hours before the event.)

When you check out, pay with either credit card or PayPal to secure your signed copy.